The Total Request Live (TRL) revival is not canceled, but MTV says that it will be expanding the franchise with late-night and morning shows.
Originally hosted by Carson Daly, the popular music video countdown show came back on air in October 2017. It has regularly featured up-and-coming artists and special guests such as Demi Lovato, Migos, Ed Sheeran, Noah Cyrus, and Lil Uzi Vert.
The show has been on a planned hiatus since February and will not be back until April. A previous report by TMZ falsely claimed that the show has been canceled and will instead pivot to social and digital platforms.
'TRL' Lives
However, a representative from MTV has refuted the rumors, saying that the show is currently one of the network's most prized programs.
"TRL has been a huge success for us and we're expanding the franchise with daily late night and morning shows this summer," the representative said.
The half-hour late-night show has already been launched last month and will continue to air every Monday and Tuesday at 11 p.m. on MTV. On the other hand, the daily morning show, which will be hour-long, is expected to premiere by summer. Right now, the show is reportedly titled TRL A.M. and was described as "visual Spotify."
All three shows will also be streamed on digital and social media platforms.
Speaking about the planned expansion, network president Chris McCarthy told The Hollywood Reporter that MTV is aiming to target different demographics.
"All three [versions of TRL] will be airing by June," he stated. "We have no plans of not having TRL on our linear network; there won't be a time when we don't have it on. The show has been killing it for us."
Ratings And Reviews
The relaunched version of TRL has received mixed reviews. Pitchfork has even called the reboot a "spectacular failure," noting the show's lack of actual music. Even more scathing, Stereogum said that the show is "a vapid, obnoxious mess."
The reboot has also repeatedly posted modest ratings, premiering with just 166,000 same-day viewers. Its second episode drew an even lower 118,000 viewers.
In an interview with Billboard, McCarthy said that, despite the less-than-spectacular ratings and the negative reviews from critics, the show is a success in terms of the responses they receive from its target demographic — teens.
He bragged that the TRL reboot has topped Nielsen's social guide in almost every night and across all television broadcasts. In addition, he said that the show has exceeded their expectations.
"Up on the linear screen itself, we're up almost 100 percent with teens and that's just in week one," he stated. "From our video views, so everything off-linear, we are up over 30 percent, which week-on-week, the last time we saw that kind of growth was the VMAs."
The main TRL show will return on April 9 on MTV.
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